Mobile shopping: Greentoe helps get you better baby gear deals

One of the best ways to get a good deal when you’re loading up on baby gear is to utter these five words: “Is this your best price?”

Posing this question at baby boutiques can so be helpful because small businesses often have some say in their product pricing. With major retailers like Babies R Us, however, I couldn’t imagine asking for a better price, can you? Still, according to Joe Marrapodi, the co-founder of Greentoe.com, a website and mobile app that allows consumers to negotiate with online retailers, it’s possible. Even major retailers have play in their pricing if you’re negotiating in-store.

Pricing flexibility is thanks to Minimum Advertised Price (MAP). It’s an agreement between suppliers and retailers stipulating the lowest price a product can be advertised for, as in displayed or published. But if you go into a store, you can actually buy products below MAP just by asking for a better deal. In-store bargaining with the five magic words is an MAP work around.

Still, whose gonna do that? I’ll be the first to admit that I’m bashful bargainer. If you are too, Greentoe can make your life easier. The site and super fun app that does the bargaining for you. It’s a great place to try to get a good deal on a car seat, stroller, high chair and diaper bag.

The site and iPhone app allow you to name your price on these baby products online.

Gaming the Baby Gear System

Here’s how Greentoe works: Let’s say you’re in the market for a Stokke Classic Tripp Trapp High Chair. From the Greentoe app, you would press “Make an Offer.” Then, with the site’s gauge meter, you’ll move the needle with your finger until you’re at the price you want to offer for the high chair. The gauge meter gives you an idea of how realistic your offer is. It’s color coded as follows:

Green means the retailer is almost guaranteed to take your price.

Orange—the retailer might take your deal, depending on timing, their inventory and other factors.

Red basically means sorry–it’s not likely to happen.

The gauge meter is based on algorithms and price intel.

In general, Greentoe shoppers save an average of about 18 to 22 percent off retail, according to Marrapodi. But you can always try to do even better by submitting orange offers and see if you get a hit. I tested my Greentoe offers against prices on high chairs on Amazon and I found that I could beat Amazon’s prices by around 20 percent.

All Greentoe offers include taxes (if they apply in your state to online shopping) and shipping. To learn more and sign up, visit www.greentoe.com and get $20 off your first purchase.

Baby Deal

You can also earn 3 percent cash back (good through April 30, 2105) by typing saveabundle in the box at checkout. Happy haggling!

Want to learn more?

Baby products are just one of five categories of products available on Greentoe. To learn more about Greentoe and saving money online, check out my Greentoe post on ShopSmart or go to Greentoe.com.